Judge Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the Senate Friday as the newest Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She was sworn in Saturday in a beautiful conference room at the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Roberts. Her mother held the Bible upon which she rested her hand as she took the oath.
President Obama requested that the court break 40+ years of precedent by holding the swearing in at the Supreme Court, rather than the White House. It was an admirable kind of unspoken statement about the co-equal nature of the three branches of government. Justice Sotomayor will be honored at a reception at the White House next Wednesday.
(Image: Wordle.net)
Our new Justice will get right to work, I imagine. She will prepare thoroughly for hearing the first cases to come up for her in September. She is high energy, with a deliberate way of speaking. She will be appropriately deferential as the newest member of the court, but she will immediately have an influence. Former Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and current Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will give her advice, but I predict that she will have a good feel for how to navigate her way from early on.
It is apparent that she loves the practice of law because she has never done anything else. We can assume that she loves the law in a way that she will let it be her guide. She will be surprisingly conservative with certain of her decisions, because her approach is to "let what the law says decide." Frightened white male Republican senators have nothing to fear, despite her empathy, her ethnicity or her gender. They will be just fine.
Hooray for the Judge. Kudos and Godspeed on this exciting new journey.
[Post date - August 9, 2009]
Blogs: See Behind the Links. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. My creative website is at Making Good Mondays. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for all my websites.
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